Bombardier Inc.'s CSeries received another weighty boost ­ and vote of confidence ­ Monday when Lease Corporation International (LCI) ordered 20 of the Montreal aircraft maker's next- generation narrow-body aircraft, with options for a further 20.

Negotiations for the deal began a year ago, said Tasos Michael, chief investment officer for the Dublin-based aircraft lessor, from Monaco. The order is for three CSeries 100, which seat about 110 passengers, and 17 CSeries 300 jets, which seat about 130.

Michael could not say which airlines he hopes to place the planes with. But LCI has about 20 airline customers, roughly half of them in Europe and the other half in Asia, as well as Oman Air. They include Air France, British Airways, Iberia, Virgin Atlantic, Singapore Airlines, Hong Kong Express, Shentzhen Airlines and Hainan Airlines.

The list price of the deal is $1.82 billion ($1.44 billion). But as an early buyer, second only to Lufthansa, which officlally launched the CSeries program earlier this month with 30 firm orders and 30 options, LCI would not have paid that much. Customers and manufacturers do not disclose the actual price of deals for competitive reasons.

Bombardier Aerospace spokesperson Marc Duchesne said he could "not speculate on which (other) airlines we're talking to, but we discuss with a whole host of them."

He said it was "gratifying" that "we signed a firm deal with Lufthansa on March 11, and now another with LCI. We hope to have more (such) announcements in the weeks and months to come."

He said that the first order from a leasing company is "a very good sign" and "significant" because lessors account for about one-third of all aircraft purchases on behalf of airlines.

LCI ­ not to be confused with ILFC, one of the world's largest aircraft-leasing companies owned by troubled insurance firm AIG, which has put it up for sale ­ is owned by the Libra Group, a private London-based conglomerate with large investments in hotels, commercial real estate and renewable energy, and which owns the licence for the posh Sotheby's auction house for Greece, the home country of chairman George Logothetis.

Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace consultant with Teal Group in Washington, D.C., who has long expressed skepticism about the viability of the CSeries program itself, said "good for (Bombardier). They're doing what they had to do."

He conceded that Bombardier "may well have tapped into an underserved market." The narrow-body category is dominated by Boeing's 737 and Airbus's A319 and A320 models. Bombardier's CSeries is filling in a narrow gap, 110 seats to 130 seats, between Embraer's ERJ-190, which goes up to about 110 seats, and the B737 and A319, which are generally configured to fly more than 130 passengers.

Michael said that he kicked the tires of all manufacturers, including Bombardier's Brazilian rival, Embraer, but chose the CSeries "because it's a step forward in technology," notably its Pratt & Whitney engine in development and its carbon-fibre fuselage.

"From a leasing point of view, there's a better residual value, whether it's resale price or marketing of the assets.

"If it does everything it says on the box, it will be great for airlines."

Michael said he's "gotten to know (the Bombardier) people very well, and they're positive, but also cautious and conservative" about expected operating-cost reductions of 15 per cent.

Aboulafia said that "you never really know about leasing companies, especially with a new player (LCI was founded in 2004). It could be that they have a great feel for the market or that they got really great (purchase) terms."

Michael said that "there are good deals from everybody at the moment. We went with Bombardier."

Raymond Jaworowski, an analyst with Forecast International in Newtown, Conn., said that "this is certainly a good sign for the CSeries program. I think the market was kind of holding its breath, and when Lufthansa finally committed to firm orders, it gave the green light to others."

He said that leasing is "a good market. The only caveat is that they buy planes essentially on spec, so they might be a little more (likely to defer or cancel orders in a prolonged airline industry slump)."

"But I certainly see this as the first of several additional orders for the CSeries over the next few months."

Michael said that the "responses from all my clients, legacy or low-cost airlines, has been extremely positive. I would love to place aircraft with Air Canada, or I may be interested in WestJet as well."

WestJet's Richard Bartrem did not return a call seeking comment.

"Yes, our order is speculative," Michael conceded. "But I don't think the risks are very weighty. There are not many narrow-body aircraft in the market, and the potential is huge."

Duchesne estimated the market for the plane type is 6,300 aircraft over 20 years, of which Bombardier expects half.

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